Trump calls on NATO to ‘get guts’ and open Hormuz, says he ‘couldn’t care less’ about alliance

WASHINGTON, United States (MNTV) – U.S. President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of NATO, urging member states to send naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz and saying he “couldn’t care less” about the alliance’s absence from the Iran conflict, while suggesting NATO “wouldn’t be there” if the U.S. ever needed it.

“They gotta get guts and go in and just send your ships up there and enjoy it,” Trump told Politico when asked why he had not mentioned NATO in his Wednesday night national address.

Asked if he was frustrated with the alliance, he said: “I couldn’t care less. I didn’t need them. But if I ever did need them, they wouldn’t be there.”

The remarks follow a string of pointed criticisms Trump has directed at NATO, including calling member states “cowards” and describing the alliance as a “paper tiger” in a separate interview with The Telegraph, in which he said leaving NATO was “beyond reconsideration.”

Leaving unilaterally would face significant legal hurdles — a 2023 law bars any U.S. president from withdrawing without the backing of a two-thirds Senate majority.

NATO has invoked its collective defense clause, Article 5, just once in its history, following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Alliance members have criticized Trump for launching the war on Iran without consulting them, and have broadly declined to participate in efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 million barrels of oil pass daily.

Trump is scheduled to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Washington next week, according to the Wall Street Journal.